From spring well into the fall, musicians are picking and fiddling at festivals up and down the Blue Ridge.

For more on the late Doc Watson, see our tribute on our CarolinasBest.com blog.

Besides MerleFest, the seminal festival founded by Doc Watson in honor of his son, Merle, some of the other big festivals in western North Carolina include:

• Mayberry Days, held in Mt. Airy in late September,

• the Alleghany County Fiddler's Convention in Sparta the third weekend in July

• ,Asheville's Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, held every August for nearly 90 years.

• Jefferson's Bluegrass and Old-Time Fiddlers' Convention held in Ashe County Park the first Saturday of August,

• the Hiddenite Celebration of the Arts, a weeklong event in September.

• Iredell County's Old-Time Fiddlers and Bluegrass Festival at Union Grove every Memorial Day, a tradition that dates back to 1924, marks the start of the summer festival season.
  
  
• The Bluff Mountain Festival, a free gathering held every June in Hot Springs, NC, one of the state's most unique attractions.
  
  
• The North Carolina State Bluegrass Festival, held every August, near Marion.
  
  
• Bluegrass in Cherokee, held at Happy Holiday RV Village in June.
  
  
• Cashiers Mountin Music Festival, in late June/early July.
  
  
• Ola Belle Reed Music Festival, in Lansing, Ashe County, every August.
  
  
• Red, White, and Bluegrass Festival, held July 4th weekend, in Morganton.
  
  
• Bluegrass First Class, an indoor festival held in Asheville during February.
  

You can find more bluegrass festivals all over the state at this website.

You don't have to buck the crowds at a festival - or spend a fortune - to enjoy old-time music however.

In barbecue restaurants, barber shops, barns and general stores up and down the Blue Ridge, musicians who might be car salesmen or farmers or college professors get together to play just for the joy of it.

The N.C. Arts Council and N.C. Dept. of Cultural Resources have made these musical gatherings easy to find by sponsoring two terrific projects:

• Fred Fussell's Blue Ridge Music Trails: Finding a Place in the Circle, published in 2003 by the University of North Carolina Press and the N.C. Folklife Institute, details festivals and jam sessions in the mountains of both North Carolina and Virginia, along with stories told by some of the region's most famous musicians. The book won the first Preserve America Presidential Award for Heritage Tourism, presented by Pres. Bush last year.
• The book's companion website, www.blueridgemusictrails.org,gives up-to-date times and places where you can find music conveniently arranged by county with accompanying maps.

Mountain Concerts & Jams

During the summer, you can find free concerts and jam sessions nearly every night of the week.

One of the biggest jam sessions is the free Saturday night Shindig on the Green in Asheville, held every weekend in July and August. Part lawn party, part street dance, the free event draws musicians and fans alike.

Every Friday evening in summer and fall, there's a free bluegrass concert, usually with cloggers, buck dancers and flatfooters, on the Lawn in front of the Jones House Community Center in downtown Boone. The concert is free. http://www.watauga-arts.org/

For other music events in Boone, check out http://www.mountaintimes.com/

Mountain Home Music concerts in the Blowing Rock School Auditorium take place nearly every week.

The Alleghany Jubilee runs year-round in downtown Sparta. For info on weekly jams in Alleghany County visit http://sparta-nc.com/ncmountainland.aspx

Tuesdays and Fridays there's bluegrass music at the Todd General Store between W. Jefferson and Boone.

Mountain Music Jamboree http://www.mountainmusicjamboree.com in Glendale Springs, near Jefferson, sponsors foot-stomping fun on Friday and Saturday nights.

Visit the Western NC Bluegrass site for a listing of ongoing jam sessions around the region.

More info can be found at the Porch Pickin site.

The free Sunday afternoon jam sessions at the Bolick Pottery and Traditions Pottery Store near Blowing Rock are legendary for hospitality.

The Orchard at Altapass near Spruce Pine, selected as an Appalachian treasure by the National Geographic Society, offers free mountain music, dancing and storytelling on Wed. - Sunday afternoons (May-Sept.) and on weekends in Oct..

The Great Smoky Mountain Railroad sponsors a noontime concert in Bryson City every day as the train from Dillsboro pulls in, June to Oct.

Oprys and Music Parks

In the southern mountain counties, “hometown oprys” present shows featuring mountain music and dance with a joke or two thrown in. Look for them in:

• Burnsville
• Old Fort
• Otis Cook Memorial Gospel Music Park, near Polkville,
• Maggie Valley

Dancing Mountain Style

Old-time music isn’t just for listening. Bring your dance shoes – with or without taps – and prepare to cut the rug. Traditional dancing comes in a variety of styles – flatfooting, buck dancing, clogging and mountain two-step – but a simple shuffle will get you through an evening.

Check out the free summer street dances held in :

• Hendersonville Street Dance, on Monday nights in July and August
• Waynesville Mountain Street Dance, held every other Friday, late June-early August

If you prefer to do your dancing inside, the Stompin’ Ground in Maggie Valley is considered a mecca of dance, Friday and Saturday nights, April - Oct.

BBQ and Bluegrass

Barbecue and bluegrass music are natural partners. Enjoy old-time music along with your chopped pig and catfish at:

• O'Henry's Restaurant Music & Dance near Yadkinville;
• Sim's Country Bar-B-Que in Granite Falls;
• Smoky Creek Barbecue and Music Barn in Lenoir;
• Woodland's Barbecue and Pickin' Parlor in Blowing Rock
• Prissy Polly's Pig Pickin' Barbecue in Kernersville

Museums

Several N.C. museums explore the history of this unique musical heritage.

Wilkes Heritage Museum and Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame, Wilkesboro

Appalachian Cultural Museum in Boone (closed)

Mountain Gateway Museum and Heritage Museum in downtown Old Fort, with Pickin' on the Porch on weekends.

Rural Life Museum at Mars Hill College in Madison County, also home of the extensive Southern Appalachian Archives. The Bascom Lamar Lunsford Minstrel of Appalachia Festival is held every Oct. on campus.

Doc and Merle Watson Folk Art Museum at the Old Cove Creek School in Sugar Grove, NC; also the site of the annual Musicfest 'N Sugar Grove, a tribute to the memory of Doc and his son

Silver Family Museum at Kona Baptist Church, in Bakersville, contains artifacts relating to the popular song, "The Ballad of Frankie Silver." The church is open to visitors on the fourth Saturday in July for the Silver Family Reunion, but you can visit the graveyard outside anytime and look for Charlie Silver's three graves.

You can find out the story behind the region’s most famous ballad at the Whippoorwill Academy and Tom Dooley Museum in North Wilkesboro.

The International Bluegrass Music Museum is located in Owensboro, Kentucky.

The North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in Kannapolis honors NC born masters in every kind of music.

The Rest of the State

The mountain counties don’t have an exclusive lock on traditional North Carolina music, of course.

Carolina Music Ways presents the musical heritage of the northwestern Piedmont counties of Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Stokes, Surry, and Yadkin. Besides a searchable database of events, the website offers interesting essays on the North Carolina roots of old-time stringband, bluegrass, blues, jazz, gospel and Moravian music.

PineCone, the Piedmont Council of Traditional Music, produces traditional music shows at venues throughout the Triangle.

The Piedmont Blues Preservation Society sponsors the annual Carolina Blues Festival in Greensboro every May.

North Carolina’s largest blues event, the Bull Durham Blues Festival, held each September in the Historic Durham Athletic Park, celebrates the distinctive Piedmont blues style that developed in the area.

The Eastern N.C. Bluegrass Association hosts a popular Bluegrass Jam Session at Lenoir Community College in Kinston on the second Saturday of every month. The annual Neuse River Music Fest, featuring bluegrass music, is also held in Kinston.

The Outer Banks Bluegrass Island Festival takes place in Manteo in Oct.

The Charlie Poole Music Festival held each year on the second weekend of June in Eden, North Carolina, hometown of the banjo legend.

The Lil John's Mountain Music Festival is held in Snow Camp, near Burlington, every May.

The Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver Bluegrass Festival is held in Denton, NC, near Asheboro, at the Denton Farmpark every May.

The Hoppin’ John Old-Time & Bluegrass Fiddlers’ Convention takes place in Sept. at Shakori Hills, near Pittsboro, also the site of April GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance.

The Big Lick Bluegrass Festival in Oakboro, between Charlotte and Albemarle, takes place in April.

The PreddyFest is held annually in August near Oxford.

The County Line Bluegrass Barn in Wilson sponsors open pickin' sessions on Tuesdays.

The Mineral Springs Music Barn, outside of Waxhaw, has Saturday night bluegrass.

The American Music Jubilee in Selma offers high-energy family variety shows featuring a mix of bluegrass, country, oldies and gospel music, year-round.

The N.C. Bluegrass Association website list events across the state.

Bluegrass and Old Stores

Another duo that just seems to go together. In addition to the Todd General Store, listed above, check out these nostagic venues across the state:

The E.H. Montgomery General Store in Gold Hill hosts a Friday night bluegrass jam year-round.

The R.A. Fountain General Store just outside Greenville, NC, books acoustic bands, including bluegrass and Americana.

The Maness Pottery & Music Barn, outside of Carthage, hosts Tuesday night bluegrass jams.

The Old Hargett Store in Marshville, near Monroe, hosts Tuesday night bluegrass.

Sharpe Store Music, near Pittsboro, hosts bluegrass on the first and third Saturdays of the month.

Puckett's Farm Equipment in Charlotte has free bluegrass on the second and third Wednesdays of the month.

The Drexel Barber Shop, outside of Morganton, has hosted Sat. night bluegrass jams since 1949.

Find more jam sessions in North Carolina at this website.

Extra: Listen to Bluegrass while you drive or browse. Visit this site for a listing of radio stations and shows broadcasting and streaming bluegrass.

NOTE: The informaiton in this story was correct at time of publication, but things may change. Always check with a venue before setting out for a destination.